Citizen Artist Reading Group Sunday, January 18th | 10 AM – 12 PM Virtual – Meeting Link Free + Open to the Public High Performance magazine, and later The Citizen Artist anthology, documented and amplified the voices of artists working outside traditional institutions, embedding their practice in the fabric of civic life. By revisiting these groundbreaking publications, we aim to spark dialogue, collective memory, and action—drawing from a powerful lineage of artist-led civic engagement and radical experimentation. The Citizen Artist Reading Group is a year-long inquiry into the intersections of art, politics, performance, and community. Meeting monthly from January–December 2026, the group will engage foundational and experimental texts that have shaped the fields of social practice, community-based performance, and art/life. Together, participants will explore themes ranging from feminist lineages and environmental interventions to activism, justice, and collective transformation. All sessions are virtual and public. Special guests will be invited to each session. Session 1 – January 18, 10:00-12:00 PM – Meeting Link Readings: Introduction – Steven Durland (p. xv) Of the People, By the People and For the People: The Field of Community Performance– Richard Owen Geer (p. xxv) The Art/Life Experiment – Linda Frye Burnham (p. 1) She Who Would Fly: Interview with Suzanne Lacy – Richard Newton (p. 7) Acting Like Women – Cheri Gaulke (p. 13) Guest: Ruthanna Hopper Ruthanna is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and curator of interdisciplinary projects working in exhibitions, books, and performance development. Her work explores the intersections of art, movement, and environment, continuing a lineage in which creative practice is inseparable from lived experience. She holds a degree in Art History with a focus in Studio Art from the University of California, Davis, and trained in performance at the William Esper Studio in New York under Professor of Drama at NYU’s Tisch. A graduate of the Tamalpa Institute Center for the Halprin Work, Ruthanna is a Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator (RSMT/E) working with individuals and groups in the Life Art Process developed by Anna and Daria Halprin. Beyond formal training, Ruthanna’s greatest education is on the Halprin Dance Deck in the redwoods, growing up at Mountain Home Studio inside the Halprin living laboratory, where dancers, architects, poets, musicians, psychologists and students regularly collided in creative experiment. That early immersion in Life and Art continues to shape her work and worldview. As Director of the Halprin Living Legacy Lab, Ruthanna carries this lineage forward, crafting projects that invite connection, creativity, and embodied expression across disciplines and communities. Follow Ruthanna’s work: • Bodies of Work Substack • Instagram